Occupational respiratory symptoms in New Zealand hairdressers.

BACKGROUND A study of occupational respiratory symptoms in hairdressers was carried out in 26 salons in New Zealand. METHODS A questionnaire was administered to 100 hairdressers and 106 office and shop workers, recording respiratory symptoms, demographic data, and smoking habits. Pulmonary function was measured before each shift. RESULTS Hairdressers had a higher prevalence of asthma symptoms, diagnosed asthma, and asthma attacks in the previous 12 months, but these differences reduced markedly when adjusted for age, gender and smoking. Hairdressers had a significantly lower pulmonary function, even after adjustment for smoking, but this difference was entirely due to differences between hairdressers and office workers and there were no such differences between hairdressers and shop workers. CONCLUSIONS The excess symptom prevalence in hairdressers was largely due to the high smoking rates. Mean pulmonary function was lower in hairdressers but this finding requires further study.